learning to barefoot

Its all good! Mark if you can remember 1 or 2 points and apply it to your technique each time you out on the water...you will be rockin. I hope you have some passionate peeps that enjoy the sport as much as you. It is great to feed off of someone elses energy or to have someone keeping pushing you! Dry land, dryland, dryland.

Hey mark do you think we can switch to Thursdays?
I am off from work from my main job but on occasion i do have things to do during the day but I would plan on getting on the water by 4pm. I will bring my boat this time so you can feel the difference between boat generations.
I hope your wife is feeling better. You missed out on some nice glass water Sunday morning my father and brother are hooked on going out on Lake Zoar now. My brother and I footed 3 times each just off the boom.
I feel like I am getting way better then my brother his form is way off, legs are too straight and stuff like that. It was funny he taught me how to get up barefooting but he used to do it with his college buddies back 10 or so years ago so he is relearning everything the right way and now that I am getting my form right he is working on it the best he can because of his family obligations he doesnt have time to do the research from videos with little time on the computer.


-Phil

Mark Mel wrote: I tried a tumble up. The arm holes on the jump suit I'm using are too big and I didn't like the spray bruise I was getting;

Glad to see you've got the order of blame correct- always the equipment first

Once you get into the right position that should stop. At least is did for me... thank God!

Mark, I viewed the video again. Not a big deal, but that boom could come down to shoulder height.

Gotta disagee with "skiing around with the chin down." Chin needs to be up; need to look out at the horizon. Ron Scarpa Watersports sell a nice neck brace if you are worried about face plants and neck injuries. I bought one as I am going to start in on back deep starts here.

As far as blame: I gotta go with the "driver" first, then equipment. Always blame the driver...LOL LOL LOL... :-)

OK, so I am a little thick over here. I read your post on my e-mail, not the thread. I missed the winky fella. My bad...

Awesome!

LakeBoy wrote: As soon as you get to the top of the wake, stop the lean or you will roll over the wake.

My problem is I have such a tight ass that I get a lot of spray while butt riding and can't see the wake, so I charge at it and flip over it. I've started wearing shorts (non padded) underneath and definitely helps.

DMJ makes the cheeking (and skiing) look so easy!

Hollywood wrote: My problem is I have such a tight ass..

Quinner...you out there..listening to this kind of talk??

john

Hollywood wrote: My problem is I have such a tight ass that I get a lot of butt riding, so I just flip over. I've started wearing underneath and it definitely hurts.

Thought this was a Barefoot thread, not a Bare A*$ thread!

Freakshow came out to our Lake last weekend, he was digging around in the ski gear and found one of Alex's old BF Suits which happened to have some pink stripping on it, sure enough caught him loading it in the trunk of his Caddy later that day.

No question, that Boy has some issues!!

Here's one of the latest fall runs, maybe the last depending on the weather we get shortly.

I tried to get my feet more forward instead of right underneath me. It felt like I was doing it correctly on the bar but it still looks like I need more angle on my back,

Oh I tried some one foots too(pathetic) And there's my standard finish at the end.

Still footin', still learning.. I took in a nice set on Sunday AM. Bit cooler as you can see the full suits. Still working on the one foots, making lots of progress.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTq50_6aKQ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdHcl_nnGHg

Going out with the legend, William Farrell on thursday. Hope to learn a few tips from the ragin' cajun.

Man! I missed this post early on -- skimmmed through a good bit of it, but it's so long I just fast forwarded here to add my 2 cents!
First of all booms are for sissies! And I liked what I heard about going as fast as you can cause it's more scary that way!
Alrigth, alright, I'm just kdding about the booms -- wish I had one when I learned way back when.
BUT -- I'm serious about going exceptionally fast. I think it's easier and there's a lot less chance of tripping and falling when you're going fast. Especially since I think early on in this post k.o. mentioned weighing 250. I weigh about hmmm? I don't know anymore? At least 225 right now and I can tell you, going 38 or even 40 it's pretty hard to stay up (for me) and you can't see for all the spray! With most folks here, and all these small block powered inboards, you're looking at about 44 mph +- and I'd suggest that heavier folks use all of that! I've gotten used to even mid to high 40's when I barefoot (with my sterndrive Cobalt that can reach the mid 50's). Yeah, it's kind of fast but it works for me and I don't fall a lot because of the high speed. I footed behind a MasterCraft X-2 a couple of years ago. The guy said he was going wide open and I thought I was going to drown. I think that boat is more of a wakeboard boat though. Pretty boat and big (20'+?) with a big wake, but it's top end must not be real great).
CAUTION about going fast -- be ready to fall. It can be a little rough falling at that speed if you don't fall back or tuck -- try to protect your head (ears).
I saw folks talking about the knee board starts. That's how I learned, but me and my ole' ski buddy Jim did it different. We would both start on our knees and get into a seated position after the boat took off running slow (like 12 or 15?) and then, once into seated position, we'd sort of lay back a bit and give the driver the thumbs up to acclerate. Here's where we were different. Jim would put his feet in lightly from the slow speed to the max speed and the board would sort of lift under under you due to the spray from the insides of your feet and end eventually fall out from under him and he'd be on his way.

I, on the other hand would wait until the boat was up to speed and then put my feet down once I felt I was going fast enough. Not sure there's a right or wrong choice here? Thinking back, Jim's way seemed more controlled; it's a little squirrelly and can be bouncy (which is BAD!) sitting on a knee board going over 40 mph with your feet up in the air!

Then, there's the step off method (already mentioned above) that is a real good way to start I think too. I learned that back in the 70's too and like someone here mentioned, removing the rear binding (the heel part) from a ski helps a lot. I prefer starting outside the wake so that your initially bare foot (your rear foot) is "toward the wake." It just feels right there because when you eventually kick off your ski, you'll be sort of pushing on the one foot and it will hold you out there in the smoother "outside of the wake" water. Also, it seems less critical to use an extra long line that way. Once up to speed, just put your "bare" foot in the water and distribute the weight partially on to that. Lean back "a lot" when you step out of your ski because for an instant you'll be on one foot. Just make that as smooth as you can and it works well. This is just a personal preference and how I learned. Kepp in mind, since you start this way, and since it's your first time, your whole ride will liekly be "outside the wake." Crossing the wake baerfoot is a little tricky at first (just like it is on skis at first) and is a later lesson.

Oh, and I guess it goes withouth saying, it helps with all of this to have really smooth water. You'll probably fall 10 times as much if you're in rough water when you're learning and that can make you feel like it's impossible!
It's really not hard once you get the hang of it and if you heed the "smooth water for learning" warning! Good Luck, break a leg and all that... Well maybe don't break a leg...

The weather in California's Central Valley continues to blow minds, and with no wind, it is a barefooter's dream.

My footing career which started in Mid-June continues to grow, having hooked up with good barefooters that go out a lot.
Here's the latest:

One-foots and one-foot one-hand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UyhRIIen0M

Wake crosses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quWPrcMF2sM&feature=channel

Back Deep Attempt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4QsyNG-xJ4

I know this thread is quiet as a lot of the footers are digging snow right now. I will do my best to keep it alive.

I did not see that post, but it looks easy. I think I will try one.

here we go. This was my first attempt at a toe hold yesterday. I barely got my fingers off the handle...

Toe Hold Face Plant

Thanks, Hollywood.

Tique,

thanks for the tip on the toe-holds. I asked my friend who's a very experienced footer if the boom height mattered and said Andre DeVillers does them over his head. My answer to that was obvious considering Andre is 21 and a Pro.


I will lower the boom, and "crunch" forward a bit.